Tampa vs. Miami: The Fight for the Cuban Sandwich

Two cities in Florida are having a food fight, and not the kind that starts in a school cafeteria. Tampa and Miami are currently fighting over who gets to claim the Cuban sandwich as its own.

According to NPR's The Salt, the food war started last week when Tampa's City Council renamed the Cuban sandwich the "Historic Tampa Cuban Sandwich." A Cuban sandwich is typically made with shredded pork, ham, swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles served on Cuban bread either cold or hot-pressed. The Tampa version of the Cuban includes salami and occasionally mayonnaise in addition to the mustard.

When the mayor of Miami heard that Tampa had claimed the Cuban for its own, he responded, "Oh. Wow. Tampa certainly has a tradition, but salami is for pizza." NPR gave radio stations in each city the chance to argue their cases for why Tampa or Miami should claim the Cuban.

The case for Tampa acknowledged the fact that after the Cuban Revolution, Miami became the capital of Cuban America. However, the Cubans in Tampa brought their bread with them and after meeting others who already lived in Tampa, such as the Italians, discovered salami. Tampa does not claim to be the fanciest city, but it relates to the Cuban sandwich, which is simple and grew from the need to have an affordable lunch for workers.

Miami's case described a man going into a restaurant in Little Havana and ordering a Cuban sandwich. The art of making the Miami-style Cuban was described: "He split a loaf of Cuban bread, smeared a pat of room-temperature butter, wiped the knife against his white apron, carved from a slab of dripping roast pork, wiped his knife again, added slices of sweet ham and questo suizo, wiped, smeared yellow mustard, wiped, then expertly flipped a single pickle slice into the air."

NPR held a vote based on the two radio shows' arguments and will announce the results on their blog, The Salt. So far, it looks like Tampa is winning the food fight. Regardless of each city's affinity for the Cuban sandwich, most food historians agree that the Cuban was originally invented in Ybor City, Tampa. However, each city has a unique story and different way of making the sandwich.